,, picking up the pieces. residents return to the california community devastated by a natural gas explosion. eyeing igor, a monster hurricane brews in the atlantic. eyeing igor, a monster hurricane brews in the atlantic. and going picking up the pieces. residents return to the california community devastated by a natural gas explosion. eyeing igor, a monster hurricane brews in the atlantic. and going gaga, the pop star cleans house at the mtv video music awards. >> i never thought i'd be asking cher to be holding my meat purse. >> this is the cbs is morning news from monday, september 13th, 2010.

back at it on a monday. good to see you this morning. i'm terrell brown in for betty nguyen. federal investigators looking at the natural gas pipeline that ruptured and exploded last week near san francisco. take a look at this. the neighborhood before and after thursday's devastating blast that killed at least four. residents have been allowed to return home and the utility company told to examine all gas lines in the state. sandra hughes has more. >> reporter: for those who witnessed last week's explosion but still have a house left standing, it was a shocking homecoming. you are literally two houses away from obliteration. >> yes, i feel very lucky, yeah. just knowing almost up next. >> reporter: jason lee's deck was hit by flying debris from the explosion. other homes had no damage but days without power ruined a refrigerator full of food, a small inconvenience. >> that's a bad smell, that was it. other than that, it's been --

we're very fortunate than others that got their house burnt down. >> reporter: while residents whose homes are only damaged are settling back in, people with homes beyond this point will not be allowed back in for a few days, as the investigation continues into the cause of the blast. >> that 28-foot section of 30-inch pipe we are, as we speak, crating it up, putting it in a crate because the investigators have decided that needs to go back to our metallurgy labs in washington. >> reporter: a spokesman confirms the pipe that exploded was on the same line as a section classified as high risk. part of the line was scheduled to be replaced because the risk of failure was considered unacceptably high. >> we very much want to know whether pg & e has done the right thing in meeting federal laws to inspect the transmission lines on time. >> reporter: according to gas company records, the pipeline was scheduled for inspection sometime in the next two years. sandra hughes, cbs news, san

bruno, california. to colorado now, fire crews are battling a second fast-moving blaze. a new wildfire located in northern colorado in the loveland area, about 35 miles away from the last blaze near boulder. the fire has destroyed at least one home and threatens others. about 600 acres have burned so far. meanwhile, firefighters are still trying to control the fire near boulder which destroyed 166 homes. two named storms churn in the atlantic this morning and one of them is a monster, hurricane igor, is a dangerous category 4 storm sustained winds up to 150 miles per hour and getting stronger. igor is about a thousand miles east of the leeward islands, behind it is tropical storm julia, which has 40-mile-per-hour sustained winds, the tenth named storm of the hurricane season. congress gets back to work today the final legislative session of the year. topping the agenda, the fate of tax cuts approved by the bush

administration. sara, good morning to you. >> good morning, terrell. republicans want to extend the tax breaks to everyone. democrats say the country cannot afford it but a little give-and-take could move things along. republicans may be making room for compromise. >> if the only option i have is to vote for some of those tax reductions, i'll vote for them. >> reporter: after repeatedly calling on the obama administration to extend bush-era tax cuts for all americans, house gop leader john boehner expressed a change of heart sunday. he said he would support extending tax cuts for families making less than $250,000. even if tax cuts for the wealthy are allowed to expire at the end of the year. >> that's what we get done but i think that's bad policies. >> reporter: white house press secretary robert gibbs welcomed boehner's change in position but in a statement said that time will tell if his actions will be anything but continued support

for the failed policies that got us into this mess. recent polls show the majority of americans support letting tax cuts for the wealthy expire. the issue tops the list of concerns for one group that could play a major role in november's midterm elections. tens of thousands of tea party activists hit the streets across the country sunday. the group is counting on its members to turn out in large numbers come november. >> this is a rebellion like i've never seen. i've never seen the american people more engaged in their government. >> reporter: republicans argue raising taxes on the rich would only hurt the economy. but, the obama administration insists it has no choice. >> what we cannot afford to do is pass $700 billion additional in tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires. >> reporter: the debate could hit the house floor later this month. democrats have a full plate of bills they'd like to consider related to the economy but are not expected to score any big wins before hitting the campaign

trail next month. back to you. thank you. the imam leading the effort to build a center near ground zero speaks this morning at the council on foreign relations here in new york. the imam said in an interview sunday if his group gives into pressure and moves the center it will be a signal to the muslim world, islam is under attack in america. >> this will strengthen the radicals in the muslim world, help their recruitment. this will put our people, our soldiers, our troops, our embassies our citizens under attack in the muslim world. and we have expanded and given and fueled terrorism. >> meanwhile the florida preacher who had said he would burn copies of the koran is in new york. he came to the city to meet with islamic center leaders. jones says he will not carry through with his threat. another top drug mexican dealer has been captured.

sergio villarreal barragan was a leader of a major drug cartel, captured sunday in central mexico by mexico marines. a setback in efforts to rescue the 33 chilean miners. they is still trapped a half mile beneath the surface. a drill bit broke in one of three tunnels drilled to reach them. it is the tunnel the most advanced. rescue crews may have to start over. the fate of three american hikers held in iran remains up in the air this morning. iran now says one of them, sarah shourd, could be released in days but a catch here as for her two companions, their fate is still unknown. mark phillips reports. >> reporter: iran's state-controlled tv outlets had as much trouble keeping track of her status as the world. >> iran says female detained american citizen sarah shourd will be released on bail. >> reporter: half a million dollars to release sarah shourd

seen here when the american detainees were visited by their mothers in tehran this past may. the three have been held in an i rain yan prison more than a year but sarah shourd's bail announcement is only the latest in a series of stops and starts in which the 32-year-old american was first due to be released and then had those hopes dashed. a power struggle between iran's political factions is being played out at her expense. she and the other two americans were, according to them, hiking along the iraq-iran border when arrested by iranians and accused of spying. the other two are shane bauer and josh fattal. shourd is said to require medical attention for a suspected precancerous condition. iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad had promised shourd's release possibly as a public relations gesture ahead of his annual trip to the u.n. in new york. but, as ahmadinejad and iran's

judiciary and military struggle for control, sarah shourd and the other detainees have become political footballs. >> they're being held under false pretenses and they should be released and we're working very hard to see that that happens. >> reporter: swiss diplomats in tehran are said to be arranging her bail but her fate and that of the other detainees is still very much in doubt. mark phillips, cbs news, london. ahead on the morning news, new rules for pilots aims for more rest. plus, a good romance for the always outrageous lady gaga. this is cbs morning news. ould br if we didn't have to weigh 'em all. if those boxes are under 70 lbs. you don't have to weigh 'em. with these priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service, if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. no weigh? nope. no way. yeah. no weigh? sure. no way! uh-uh. no way. yes way, no weigh.

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music awards. taylor swift sang a song called "innocent" to forgive kanya west and he sang a song mocking his bad behavior. last night's top winner, lady gaga, winning eight awards including video of the year for "bad romance." >> such a dream come true to be here tonight and -- >> and lindsay lohan made a brief cameo appearance joking nobody likes working with a drunk. the government is proposing new work rules for airline pilots to improve safety. federal aviation administration wants to keep pilots from getting too tired. pilots would not be able to work longer than 13 hours in a 24-hour period. but pilots who start work early in the day could fly up to ten hours. on the cbs moneywatch, stocks start on an upbeat note. good morning to you. >> and good morning to you. asian markets got a nice boost from positive news out of china,

the nikkei gaining nearly 1% to close at a three-week high. the hang seng also higher. wall street will try to re-start its september rally. investors get the latest this week on retail sales inflation and consumer sentiment. last week stocks edged up after a string of reports eased fears of a double-dip recession. banks face tougher requirements to protect from another economic downturn. sunday global regulators agreed to force banks to more than triple the money they have in reserve to cushion them from unexpected losses. officials call the new rules a significant step toward heading off another financial collapse. the bankers complain it could force them to reduce how much they lend. nervous americans want easy access to their money. new data shows consumers increasingly bailing out of bank cds and parking their cash in checking and savings accounts that earn them little or no interest.

experts say people want to be able to tap into their money quickly without paying penalties for early withdrawal. and a slow weekend at the movies, so slow, in fact, the lowest grossing weekend of the year. the only new release "resident evil afterlife" took the top spot with better-than-expected sales of almost $28 million. the highest "takers" finished second taking in just 6 million slightly ahead of "the american" which slipped into third place. looks like the summer blockbusters are over, terrell. >> there we go. well said. appreciate it. thank you. straight ahead your monday morning weather. in sports, big surprises on the first sunday of the nfl season.

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here's a look at weather in cities around the country. new york, partly cloudy, 74 degrees, partly cloudy, 91 in miami. sunny, 78 in chicago. sunny, 90 in denver. in los angeles, sunny, 78 degrees. time now for a check of the national forecast. the latest satellite shows clouds in the midwest and southeast. the west coast is looking at clear skies. later today, a few severe thunderstorms will develop in the plains. rain showers will be moving through the northeast and sunny skies will stretch from the west coast and into the northern plains. in sports this morning, opening sunday for the new nfl season, for the highlights

houston shocked the colts. foster put up 231 yards and three touchdowns on the day, the best opening season performance since o.j. simpson did it in 1973. texans over the colts. overtime in pittsburgh. and this would be it. mendenhall took it all the way, 50-yard touchdown run. pittsburgh beats atlanta. on the last play of the sunday night game, dallas gets it in with what looked like the game-winning touchdown. wait a minute, cowboys called for holding on the play. washington beat dallas 13-7. in baseball, texas swept the weekend series from the yankees, the highlights, the rangers' cliff lee pitched a two-hitter against new york. texas scored some runs here. 4-1 win. both teams still lead their division. in philadelphia, chase utley drove in a run against the mets. allowing only four hits by new york. 3-0 shutout put the phillies in first place by a game in the

national league east. when we come back this morning, another look at our top stories and keeping us safe, a little church located on the ground zero site battles for its rightful place. ♪ pringles cracker stix. ♪ so delicious... your mouth will be strangely attracted to them. ♪ everything pops with pringles cracker stix. stay twice...

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are never processed, and always made with natural ingredients, for a taste that's authentically delicious. sargento. persnickety people. exceptional cheese. . on the on the cbs morning news a look at today's weather, temperatures warming up after a brief cool-off last week across the northern half of the country. sunny skies all over the place except for patches of severe weather in the central plains. another here's another look at this morning's top stories residents at a san francisco suburb where a natural gas pipeline exploded return to homes sunday. the utility company ordered to check all of their gas lines. the imam leading the efforts to build an islamic center near ground zero says in a broadcast interview backing down and moving the center would provoke radical muslims around the world.

the controversy over the proposed islamic center is overshadowing the struggle of a longstanding church already in the ground zero area. a greek orthodox church which sat on the site of the world trade center. >> reporter: st. nicholas stood in the shadow of the world trade center, a sliver of a building, just 22 feet wide and 56 feet long. founded by greek immigrants in 1916, it was known as the little church that could. but when it was reduced to rubble on 9/11, a congregation of 70 families lost its spiritual home. >> something is missing in our lives, and we want it back. >> reporter: their church building may have been destroyed but the congregation's spirit remained intact. so did their commitment to stick together and continue having weekly services. so, for the last nine years, the st. nicholas church family has worshipped here in brooklyn.

father john romas led st. nicholas since 1971. he and his wife, lorraine, say they've never considered rebuilding anywhere else. >> we've always been promised our church would be rebuilt on the same block that it was originally. >> reporter: the port authority of new york and new jersey, the agency overseeing rebuilding, offered $60 million to st. nicholas to rebuild even bigger somewhere else, but the church rejected the deal because it owned its property and did not want to move. >> we've been asked to be patient, but after nine years, it gets a little difficult. i'm at the point where i'm hoping we'll be alive to see the new church. >> reporter: a new high-security visitors' garage at ground zero is crowding the old church's footprint. the port authority says the original location is back in play and the church has raised $4 million towards its goal. they've been among the st. nicholas faithful

for 40 years. >> st. nicholas was a church that could and now it needs to be a church that should. >> reporter: renewed hope a church will live again where so much life was taken away. you can catch the us open champ later in "the early show." i'm terrell brown. this is "the cbs morning news." but it's just the beginning of our work. i'm iris cross. bp has taken full responsibility for the clean up in the gulf and that includes keeping you informed. my job is to listen to the shrimpers and fishermen, hotel and restaurant workers and find ways to help. that means working with communities. we have 19 centers in 4 states. we've made over 120,000 claims payments, more than $375 million. we've committed $20 billion to an independent claims fund to cover lost income until people impacted

can get back to work. we'll keep looking for oil, cleaning it up if we find it and restoring the gulf coast. i was born in new orleans. my family still lives here. bp is gonna be here until the oil is gone and the people and businesses are back to normal... until we make this right. mmmmm... ( crash ) when you add velveeta to spicy rotel tomatoes and green chiles, you've got a queso so good, it'll blow 'em away.

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hello, it's monday to you. and marty's in the first weather center. it's cig can't, it's monday night football. ravens, jets. >> it's going to be a nice day, we have to watch for the fog this morning. otherwise, slowly clearing skies and partly sunny and 81 degrees. new details about a couple

found dead in an ellicott city home. wjz just found out more news about a court case. a man is on the loose this morning and where he'll be. the ravens kick off the regular season in 12 hours and who's counting, we are, with complete coverage. more news and first warning weather and the first traffic report of the new week in a few minutes. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

>> >> hello, in 25 seconds, it will be